Eight D’s for reduced campfire impacts
Eight “D” words describe low impact campfire practices.
Dead, Down, Dinky, Dispersed & Dangling — Dismember, Dis-ember & Distribute
Wood fuel gathered and used for reduced impact campfires is best gathered; Dead and dry, Down near ground, Dinky like your pinky & Dispersed along a length of trail or throughout a large area surrounding a campsite. Dangling or suspended down wood held above ground level, below head level, often holds less moisture–a better fuel, and remains in ecological limbo, or nearly so, usually not supporting wildlife or forest floor decomposers.
Enjoy the warmth, glow, and aromas only wood fires provide, then let the fuel burn to fine cold ash or Dismember the fire lay by spreading out the hot fuel core to quickly dissipate combustion heat in the small fuels, then Dis-ember smoldering small fuels by repeated stirrings. Wait for remaining fuel to cool through and through or stir and add water to extinguish the coals quickly. Distribute cold ash and coals widely, away from campsites, trails, and water sources.
Why eight D’s?
Dead wood. I let nature sort out which woody plants and limbs will live and which will die. I select only dead and dry wood for campfire fuels. Dead and dry twigs snap, green twigs bend. Green wood makes poor fuel. Carved green wood utensils are rarely necessary when using well planned backcountry fires. I plan ahead and prepare for small efficient campfires requiring little more than twigs–twiggy fires.
Down wood. I let nature decide when dead wood falls. Down wood has surrendered to gravity, but has not yet become part of the duff of living soil. Trees shed minor limbs and twigs abundantly. Dead trees eventually fall by natural causes. Standing dead wood supports diverse wildlife from woodpeckers to fungi. I collect only down wood found dry. For safety, I never attempt to push over a dead standing tree, not even a limb-less pole. I know that the dead tree will break above my head, the upper sections will fall on my head.
Dinky wood. I collect twigs up to thumb-size for most backcountry campfire uses. Occasionally, firewood up to wrist size and even larger is necessary for backcountry use. In every case, selected fuel wood is small and seasoned enough that I can break it into usable sizes manually or by using minimal tools. I never depend on fire for critical warmth in winter other than for cooking. Properly equipped campers do not need large fires in the backcountry.
Dispersed wood. I collect small quantities of small fuels from scattered locations while hiking along trails or by collecting from very large areas surrounding campsites. Good campsites are found, not made. Good backcountry campsites often attract repeated use, even by campers who are not aware the sites have been used by others. I leave wood fuels for other campers. I leave wood to fuel local ecosystems, too.
Dangling wood. Dangling dead wood is hanging on nature’s drying racks, suspended in ecological limbo. This is a good fuel choice and it’s a good low impact choice. Scan the undergrowth of any forest and you begin to notice abundant dead and down twigs hung up, dangling from branches of living shrubs and smaller trees. Continue searching and you find branches and twig clusters suspended above moist ground level, rising from fallen limbs and uprooted trees. For safety, I gather only small dangling and suspended fuels from head height and below. I don’t pull dangling widow-makers down on my head!
Getting the most from small fuels…
Small light-weight wood burners make the most of dead, down, dinky, dispersed, and dangling fuel wood. Small wood burners require only easily gathered small fuels that cook efficiently and burn down to ash quickly. There are many backcountry options, from home tech to high tech. A homemade coffee can hobo stove improves fuel efficiency and focuses combustion heat for rapid cooking. Time-tested chimney kettles (Kelly Kettle® USA) bottleneck combustion heat through a surrounding water jacket to boil water quickly in difficult weather conditions. Advanced design stoves support passive secondary combustion, improving efficiency. The BushCooker LT, SilverFire Scout, Bushbuddy, and its look-alike Solo stoves are examples of passive secondary combustion technologies. Forced air burners can achieve highest efficiencies. ZZ Manufacturing, Inc. produces the venerable Sierra Stove designs (zip ztoves), very small light-weight stove designs using battery powered fans to force air through the combustion chamber. Highly advanced thermoelectric technologies are available to backpackers and preparedness enthusiasts from BioLite. The BioLite Campstove powers its own battery operated fan and delivers excess power for charging additional small electronic devices.
Small open campfires can be low impact, too. “Twiggy fires” built on mineral soils found under uprooted trees, low strands of sandy beaches and low water flats do little harm and are easy to extinguish and erase. Fire pans expand opportunities for low impact open fires. A fire pan supported above ground level on several small stones protects living organic soils and can eliminate every sign of fire. A pan used for baking medium or large size deep dish pizzas works well, is light weight and convenient to carry.
When fire is no longer needed, the last three D’s…
Dismember the fuel core. Self-sustaining fire lives in a core of burning fuels clustered to sustain combustion heat but not so closely that air flow is overly restricted. Spreading out the burning core fuels adds too much cool air for continued combustion, quickly reducing critical combustion heat. The flame dissipates leaving smoldering fuel embers. Small fuel embers cool rapidly.
Dis-ember fuels. Larger fuels sustain embers longer. I speed cooling by rolling and lightly batonning intact fuels to separate embers–divide and conquer. Keeping the fire small by employing the first five D’s will greatly reduce the time and effort needed to extinguish the fuels cold. Water is master of fire: small amounts poured carefully will extinguish stubborn embers.
Distribute ash and coals. I wait until no heat remains in the extinguished coals and ash of my fire lay, then sling handfuls into the surrounding area, spreading them out in arcs of scattered ash that disappear into surrounding habitat.
What about just burying hot coals? I do not bury hot coals, I wait for them to cool, or help them cool, then scatter them. Burial is a shortcut with too many pitfalls! Some burial locations are so organic that they may smolder for days, eventually igniting open fire, the smoldering following punky logs or old root arches to the ground surface and to renewed air supply. The burial hot spot sterilizes organic soils, effectively doubling the size of the fire scar left where the open fire burned. Freshly turned soil attracts digging by curious and hungry wildlife.
What about big fires for entertainment, for cooking using beds of coals, for winter survival?
I enjoy all types of campfires. I reserve big fires for necessity or for homefront and frontcountry sites or large groups of campers. I use alternative firewood sources for large homefront and frontcountry fires. Entertainment campfires and cooking demonstration campfires require lasting large hardwood fuels and deep beds of coals. Landscape trimmings produce copious amounts of fuels in my neighborhood. Timber stand improvement cuttings produce abundance as well. Campfire wood is commonly available for sale near popular frontcountry camping venues, state parks, etc. I do not transport firewood over long distances wherever tree pathogens are raging. Just one example: Destructive emerald ash borer, killing millions of ash trees in the Midwest, was introduced to Hoosier National Forest, southern Indiana, most likely carried into campgrounds in green campfire wood transported from northern areas where the insects were spreading. A new infestation is spreading in the south threatening southern forests.
Firecraft is essential in tracecraft, the control of traces left in the great outdoors.